International consultant for Needs Assessment and Justification of GEWE Knowledge Centre in Almaty

Background

UN Women is the global champion for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women’s comparative advantage includes its ability to link global and national policy development for gender equality and women’s empowerment; comprehensive and integrated contribution across all three pillars of the UN – peace and security, human rights and sustainable development; longstanding relationship with women-led civil society and women’s rights organizations; and extensive pool of gender equality experts.

UN Women has a longstanding partnership with the Republic of Kazakhstan. The negotiations for the establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality in Almaty, Kazakhstan, were initiated during the official visit of the UN Women Deputy Executive Director, Ms. Anita Bhatia, in 2022. The initiative garnered significant interest and commitment from national partners, including officials from the Parliament of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Commission for Women Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan.

The proposed Centre aims to serve as a platform for capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, and partnership development among stakeholders from government, civil society, media, academia, and the private sector. It aligns with Kazakhstan’s strategic goals, including its commitment to implementing the Agenda 2030 and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in Central Asia.

Objective:

The primary objective of this consultancy is to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and develop a justification document for the creation of the Knowledge Centre for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (GEWE) in Almaty. This will involve:

• Conducting needs assessment for the creation of the GEWE Knowledge Centre thought gathering and synthesizing information and data from national reviews, strategic documents, interviews and communication with key stakeholders, including the representatives of the National Women’s Machinery, government officials, civil society, media, academia, and the private sector.
• Developing the report summarizing needs assessment and recommendations for the establishment of the GEWE Knowledge Centre in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
• Developing a detailed Concept Note, Programme Document (with required by UN Women regulations Annexes)  with identification of GEWE priority areas for the GEWE Centre’s 20252027  and recommendations and an action plan for establishing the Centre.

Developing the presentation to UN Women’s Kazakhstan national partners to be presented by the international consultant in collaboration with UN Women Kazakhstan during an in-person meeting in Astana. Kazakhstan (date and time TBC).

Duties and Responsibilities

The contract is expected to commence in August 2024 and come to an end on the satisfactory completion of the services in December 2024. The consultant will work 25 working days remotely but with possible travel to Kazakhstan to fulfill the tasks.

Direct Supervision:

The consultant will report to UN Women Kazakhstan Head of Office Ad Interim.

Scope of work:

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Conduct a thorough review of relevant documents, including legislative acts, CEDAW, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action National Reviews official statements, agreements, and initiatives related to gender equality and women’s empowerment in Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region.
• Analyze the strategic goals and priorities of national partners, including the Government of Kazakhstan, in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Analyze the existing institutional and policy frameworks related to gender equality and women’s empowerment in Kazakhstan.
• Identify gaps, challenges, and opportunities, including the SWOT analysis for establishing the Centre of Excellence for Gender Equality in Almaty.
• Review best practices of the GEWE Excellence Centre in Seoul, Republic of Korea and lessons learned from similar initiatives globally.
• Develop a detailed rationale and the full Project/Programme documentation with required Annexes in alignment with UN Women rules and regulations.

Conduct a presentation of the needs assessment and findings to UN Women’s Kazakhstan national partners in collaboration with UN Women Kazakhstan.

Deliverables:

?	Deliverables	Review and Approvals Required	Payment, %
1.	Detailed work plan for the period of assignment with clear milestones, results and timeline	UN Women Head of Office a.i.  in KZ	50%
2.	Initial drafts of the Needs assessment report with recommendations, the Concept Note and ProDoc and annexes with country context, overall intervention logic, aligned with UN Women rules and regulations
3.	Final version of the Needs assessment report with recommendations, the Concept Note and full-fledged ProDoc with annexes reflecting all consolidated inputs submitted for the final round of review	50%
4.	Presentation of the Needs assessment results to national partners in collaboration with UN Women Kazakhstan (in-person meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan (date and time TBC)

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalis

Core Competencies:

• – Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• – Accountability
• – Creative Problem Solving
• – Effective Communication
• – Inclusive Collaboration
• – Stakeholder Engagement
• – Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: 

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced degree in gender studies, international development, social sciences, or related fields.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment, including experience in conducting needs assessments and developing strategic plans.
• Proven experience in engaging with diverse stakeholders, including government officials, civil society, academia, and the private sector.
• Familiarity with the Central Asian context, particularly Kazakhstan, is highly desirable.
• Applicant should have strong analytical and strategic communications skills.
• Previous experience with UN and/ or other international organization.
• English, knowledge of Russian is an asset.

Application Process 

The application should include:

• Personal History Form (P-11 form) – including past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at , a signed copy should be submitted;
• Technical proposal describing how the expected assignment will be performed. The technical proposal should also include supporting materials to learn about candidate’s experience and skills.

Evaluation process

Candidates will be evaluated based on set technical qualification requirements:

#	Evaluation Criteria	Scoring schedule
1	Advanced degree in gender studies, international development, social sciences, or related fields.	150
2	At least 5 years of relevant experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment, including experience in conducting needs assessments and developing strategic plans.	500
3	Proven experience in engaging with diverse stakeholders, including government officials, civil society, academia, and the private sector.	100
4	Familiarity with the Central Asian context, particularly Kazakhstan, is highly desirable.	100
5	Applicant should have strong analytical and strategic communications skills.	50
6	Previous experience with UN and/ or other international organization	50
7	Knowledge of English	50

Kindly note, that the system will only allow one attachment, hence all supporting document e.g., P11, CV must be scanned as one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply. UN Women applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals. Due to the large number of applications received, UN Women will inform only the successful candidate about the outcome or status of the selection process.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, hires, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by applicable law. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational needs. 

If you require any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information with your application. 

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of power and discrimination. All selected candidates will be required to adhere to UN-Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN-Women staff and will therefore be subject to a thorough background and background check. (A background check will include verification of academic credentials and employment history. Selected applicants may be required to provide additional information in order to conduct a background check.)